ROLLING FORK, Miss. (WJTV) – One word to describe the people of Rolling Fork would be resilient.

Residents are doing their best to rebuild their lives one year after an EF-4 tornado damaged the community.

“Two, three, four weeks. We saw hundreds, if not thousands of people come here and help, and we needed that help. But a month later, everybody was gone. And that’s when the reality set in of what we’re dealing with,” said Britt Williamson, founder of Rolling Fork Rising.

Many homeowners received assistance. More than half of Rolling Fork’s residents were renters before the 2023 storms. Williamson said something new needed to come about.

“That’s one of the beauties of what I get to do. It’s a lot of work. Working with Rolling Fort Rising takes a lot of time. But whenever a family does make it to the finish line, and I get to make the call to say, ‘Hey, you know, you’ve been approved to buy this house,’ and it’s just a wonderful thing to hear their reaction, to hear them praise the Lord, to hear the happiness and the joy,” said Williamson.

Shietha Jackson is looking forward to homeownership.

“I didn’t know what to say. I was just shook. And he was like, ‘You still there?’ I was like, ‘Yeah, I’m here.’ But at that moment, I was just crying because I couldn’t believe it. Like, I’m 26, and I’m going to own a home for the first time,” she said.

It takes volunteers, like Beau Foster and Prairie Grove Christian Church out of Arkansas, to roll up their sleeves and help get the job done.

“We arrived Sunday afternoon, and this is our annual spring break mission trip. Every year, we go somewhere different, and we build houses. We do odd jobs, whatever is needed in response to a natural disaster,” said Foster.

Six homes are currently under construction through the Rolling Fork Rising program.